The writing has been on the wall for some time, with his form for Wales and failure to become a first-choice player at Racing Metro.

The moment Davies came on Wales became a more potent attacking force. The Springboks weren’t probably at full throttle and were perhaps coasting a bit but there’s no doubt the bouncy nature of the Scarlets No.9 came to the fore.

His lightning break around the tail of a line-out nearly set up what would have been a classic counter-attacking try for Dan Biggar.

But Dan didn’t quite have the legs and was hauled down. Gareth had over-ran him so Dan’s return pass was forward. It was a shame because Wales deserved a try for the manner in which they knuckled down following the changes made by coach Gatland.

Runs like that were once Mike’s forte but they just haven’t happened for a number of years. Other players react to moments like that but he hasn’t been producing them.

I have always said James Hook, along with Gavin Henson, is probably the most natural and gifted Welsh player of this century.

Hook showed what he can do with his feel and touch for the game. When you’ve got guys like ‘Hooky’, Davies and Morgan on the field you ask questions of the opposition and generate a buzz of excitement among the Wales team and Welsh supporters in the crowd.

You could sense it in that final 25 minutes and it was to the side’s immense credit it came back well in the second half having been, in boxing parlance, down and out in the first half.

They were behind 28-9 after conceding four tries during a torrid first half, two of them occurring while Jamie Roberts was in the sin-bin for a mistimed challenge on impressive South Africa full-back Willie le Roux.

Wales only lost the second half 10-7 so that will give them hope for next weekend’s rematch.

Probably every Welsh supporter had been extremely concerned at the interval what was going to happen but, fair play, the scoreboard stopped ticking over for the Springboks as Wales became more competitive.

It was a testament to the belief and pride of the players that they put in huge shifts with their tackling, covering and determination to be competitive, from Gethin Jenkins in the front-row to Toby Faletau and Aaron Shingler in the back-row.

But, at the end of the day, it’s a fact this is what you get when you are playing the top teams in the world, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia.

To my mind, England are now included in that group. You always end up playing hang-on-in-there or catch-up rugby against the southern hemisphere giants.

Those teams have natural pace and power, and the tempo they operate at is so quick.

South Africa weren’t at their best on this occasion and you can bet your last penny they will up their game for the final rubber of the two-match series.

Wales must react and up their performance levels, and cut out the errors which were so costly because they know what to expect.

I believe, if Gatland has the courage to break up the nature of the game Wales play and put a little bit of devilment into his thinking, we will be closer to the Springboks next week.

He certainly must consider picking the likes of Davies, Hook and Morgan because it is the way forward with his team too pedestrian and regimented. It definitely hasn’t been playing the Welsh way.

There’s a need for a bit of excitement and ambition and those boys can provide it.

Alex Cuthbert showed what Wales can do with his wonder try. It had us all off our seats and proved, given the opportunity, we have world-class finishers in Alex and George North.

The problem is getting the ball and giving them a start on the opposition. Those guys can deliver, with Cuthbert’s being one of the best tries Wales have scored against serious opposition in a long time.

South Africa will again be favourites next week – hey, we’ve only beaten them once in history and never on Springbok soil – but Gatland’s charges have some fight in them.

They proved to everybody else and, more importantly, to themselves they can compete if they cut down on the errors.

If they do the basics properly, the scrum, secure possession at the line-out and go through the phases, they will not be overwhelmed by the opposition.

It’s up to them to give it everything and try to find a way to cope with South Africa because, at the moment, the gulf between being sixth in the International Rugby Board’s world rankings, which we were going into the clash, and second is pretty obvious for all to see.